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Monday, December 31, 2018

When we first moved to Colorado last April, we stayed temporarily on a ranch in a loft apartment above a barn. It was primarily a horse ranch, but the owner had a small herd of alpacas. Ever since staying there, I have wanted to paint them and I finally did. Why the chandeliers? No other reason other than I thought it was a funny idea and they were fun to paint. Alpacas themselves are funny looking creatures.

This is my last painting in 2018 and boy did the year fly by. So many changes, so many activities. I am not as prolific a painter as I used to be, but I sure did explore our new state. Vic and I love to take hikes on New Years eve, but this year it's 12 degrees and snowing which is why I am doing a blog post instead today. I love walking in snow, but the temperature isn't hiker-friendly, so we did our hike yesterday. It was a fun day...seven miles, lots of just taking it in. Here's a couple of scenes from our time in Roxborough State Park.

I am looking forward to 2019. May there be more days like yesterday in the coming year!

Thank you for following this blog and I want to wish you a very Happy New Year! May the year be all you hope for.

Friday, December 21, 2018

I have been sharing winter themed paintings from years past on my Facebook pageand Instagram since the season has become so busy that there really isn't time to paint. Some of my favorite artists share older art as well, and I really enjoy it when they do, so I am following their lead. This painting is the one I shared today.

Last night Vic and I went out for dinner downtown in Castle Rock and I was so excited to see the lights. They are all over the area and Vic drove me around so that I could pop in and out of the car taking some photographs. I am like a child in a toy store when I am surrounded by a multitude of things to photograph, I get so excited and inspired. These are just a few from last night. One thing I love about Colorado is how there are so many people outside. People love the outdoors here.

My favorite photo is the one below. It's just such a serene and peaceful sight to me. The warm glow in the houses, the streetlights, a few Christmas lights...and that mailbox...I love it.

I will be back some time after Christmas with some new work to share. Think Alpacas! :)

Until then, Merry Christmas to you all and thank you SO much for following my art and for all your support here and on social media and also for buying my art. I appreciate every bit of it and you have helped me to keep going! Thank you always.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

I like the number 3. Always have for some reason. It goes way back to those School House Rock jingles that aired on Saturdays during morning cartoons. Anyone remember those? My favorite was "3 is a Magic Number" and I just found it on YouTube. You can find anything on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, last night I was exploring some new music to add to my iPhone. I always have music playing whether I am in the studio or cooking or doing housework, and of course while driving. I try to listen to podcasts from time to time, but my mind drifts too much while I am busy doing other things. Anyways, last night I stumbled onto this really great video with Martin Sexton and these other amazing musicians. I once saw him in concert in Wichita and he was really good. Here they are performing John Prine's Angel from Montgomery.

Monday, December 3, 2018

I actually started this painting last year and then set it aside and forgot about it until I was picking up my studio recently. I used an old photo dated 1925 of two little girls unknown to me and I've been calling this series "Past People" portraits. I love painting them because it feels a little like honoring their memory. I find myself wishing I could somehow look through a window and see the real moment these photos were taken, to understand a little more of who they are and where they lived.

Now that most photos are digital, don't you wonder what will happen to the memory of us once time marches on? Fewer of our photos will end of up in a box at some antique store, and what about our blogs? Our facebooks? Our own computers where all our photos are stored? The other day I uploaded 3,000 photos! What will happen to those in 100 years? It would be interesting to know, wouldn't it?

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

This is the sixth and last painting in my Cape Cod series. As I wrote before, I painted the first painting last year which was sold. All the others were painted this Fall. I could probably keep going with this, but I think I am ready to paint other ideas. Maybe I will come back to it. Maybe not. I change my mind often, so who knows what will happen. I've learned not to promise anything because that way the ideas flow more freely.

I can't believe Thursday is Thanksgiving. We will be traveling back to Kansas to visit our family and friends. I am really looking forward to it.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Another work in my Cape Cod series. I will have one more to share and then on to something else. I have many ideas bouncing around in my mind right now. With the approaching Season and the beauty of Colorado, it's not hard to find inspiration. As the weather cools my walks grow more peaceful and thoughts deepen. Cozy nights listening to classical music or watching a good movie add to my growing list of ideas.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

This is the third painting in my Cape Cod inspired series and there are three others in progress. Colorado is gorgeous right now, so I am a bit distracted by the outdoors.

The week before last, I got to spend some time in New Mexico. I had a wonderful time looking at some really beautiful art in Santa Fe. I also had the pleasure of meeting an artist who's work I have admired for several years now...Gigi Mills. Meeting her and seeing her art in person for the first time was absolutely delightful! Her art is so soulful to me. I just love it. She is best known as a painter, but her sculptures are very special too - take a look at the link to see some of her work at GF Contemporary.

I also got to see my dear friend in Las Cruces, Julie Ford Oliver. Julie and I first met through our blogs, then met in person in 2014 shortly after my mother's passing. Julie has a heart of gold and reached out by inviting me to her home so that I could attend a workshop she was teaching at her studio. It was medicine for my hurting heart. Then the following year she came to teach at the gallery I was in at the time Tessera Fine Art Gallery in Wichita, Kansas. Julie's art is extremely beautiful, always sells out, and her skill as a painter is very evident when you look at her work.

Monday, October 1, 2018

Last year in the month of August my husand and I took a wonderful trip to Cape Cod. It was a getaway trip so that we could recharge ourselves and discuss what is now our reality...living in Colorado. I felt so inspired everywhere we went on the Cape...the beach...the pier walks...the walks in town...and of course the sand dunes. It is truly a wonderful place of rest and peace. I felt especially connected to it because my parents lived there in the first year of their marriage in 1954 and I remember stories of Old Cape Cod told over and over by my mother. She loved it there. The entire trip I found myself imagining my young parents just starting their lives together...my mother a Kansas girl who had never been away from home really, and my father a handsome young man in the Air Force. What a time it must have been for them. And then there we were, Vic and I, middled aged, empty nest, talking about beginning our own new adventure.

I took a multitude of photographs while there and started a painting last year with the intention of painting a series inspired by our time on the Cape. I did finish the painting below last October, just before packing for our move. I do not paint beach scenes often, so it was a challenge to paint the ocean. The sunsets were a sight on the Cape...so pastel and a soft light you could almost touch.

What They Do At Nausetoil on canvas 16 x 20 inchsold

If you are not on Instagram or Facebook I posted a short studio clip video of New England Clam Chowder in the making that you can watch below.

I am continuing to work on this series of Cape Cod-inspired stories and it feels so good to be settled and focused again.

And here's a little video in honor of my parents and especially my late mother who loved this song so much.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Hello Everyone! How have you been this summer? It has been a very active one for me, packed full of art, exploring Colorado - my new home state, and spending time with friends and family. We had 22 visitors total this summer! We have a running joke about being able to put "Bed and Breakfast Owner" on our resume. Ha ha! But seriously, it was a blessing to spend time with special people. We talked, we walked, we ate, we laughed...all the good stuff!

I did these two commission paintings for a friend this summer. They are to be gifts for two of his aunts. The boy in the painting is his father in childhood. They were so fun to do, and a challenge to get a likeness between the two paintings.

Brown Sofa
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch
sold

I have been working a on a series of interior paintings, all of them are 4 x 6 inch. I love the challenge of working small. These are available in my Etsy shop. Link isHERE.

Nina's Sleep Space
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch
sold

Library for Two
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch

Room in Yellow
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch

Room With Doll
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch

Starry Night Bedroom
oil on panel 4 x 6inch

Bedroom With Blue Flowers
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch

Kitchen With Orange Tile
oil on panel 4 x 6 inch

I think Starry Night Bedroom is my favorite of these. I started to paint some small houses the other day, but I am missing painting people, so I started them again yesterday.

my studio

My studio space has been well broken into now. :)

Besides painting and enjoying all the visits we have had, I have been taking some time to put together our new living space. I found this broken wing angel at an antique store for only $5. She HAD to come home with me and we can see her from our kitchen table out on the deck. I love seeing her out there.

And there has been plenty of hiking too! Colorado is all about the outdoors which is truly wonderful. I can't lie...it has been a BIG adjustment to move to a new state at the age of 50 after being in Kansas most our lives, but for now this feels like a gift we should take advantage of for as long as we are here. Until next time...

Friday, June 8, 2018

It felt great to work on this over the last two weeks and finally finish it. Boy was it a pain to photograph for some reason. This photo was actually take with my cell phone! Would you believe it came out more true to the colors than my fancy camera. Go figure. But here it is!

This was painted from a vintage photo of a very serious looking little girl and her what I assume to be younger brother. It got me thinking about the people I know who often had to look after their younger siblings when they were growing up. I was the youngest of six, so I have no idea what that is like. They say your birth order has A LOT to do with the personality you develop and I believe this is true. Don't you? Which reminds me of the book The Birth Order. Have you heard of it? I have never read it, but it has always interested me. If I can ever find the time I plan to read it.

Speaking of finding time, I am spending most of my time these days getting to know this new-to-us state. This is a photo of our neighborhood...a HUGE change from the gentle Kansas landscape and the old tree-lined neighborhood we lived in. This is Castle Rock and it is very open and more desert-like.

See that spiky plant? Desert. But beautiful for sure. I think this is a Yucca plant. Correct me if I am wrong.

I walk this area regularly because I love how quiet it is and it's near our house. My dog Hurley loves it too. And yes...that's a New York hat. I will probably always favor the east coast since I was born there. :)

I will show you more of Colorado soon! I am going out regularly to photograph this beautiful and lively place we now call home. I would like to get this rusty old blog up and running again if I can find the time and make the effort. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Hello there! In May 2017 the possibility of relocating to Colorado came into our world. Needless to say it has been a topic that has consumed us all these months, and in the middle of April it will become our reality...we are moving one state over to the Denver area of Colordo.

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you probably know how exciting this is because I love the outdoors. What better place to be than near the magestic mountains? And again, if you have followed this blog for long, you probably know how bittersweet this move will be because I love the comforts of home...having family and friends nearby is something I treasure. It is going to be very hard to leave them and to not have them to call on for a walk or a meal together. Technology is going to be our saving grace to stay connected. That and trips home. Thank goodness it is only an eight hour drive and Denver will be a direct flight to everywhere.

In between all the cleaning and sifting through things before we pack it all up, I have made a little time to paint which helps keep me sane. I have been painting in mostly oil for some time, but it really was nice to use acrylics again. The fast drying time makes it so easy to put the idea down and so much easier to correct things.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

It is hard to believe it has been five months since I have posted here, but on the other hand it is not. At the beginning of the year I was at lunch with several friends and one of them said he would like to kick 2017 in the behind and right on out the door. My sentiments exactly. I could not have said it better. Last year was a rough one. However, rather than lamenting here on this public space about how hard life can be, I would much rather write about things that bring hopeful thoughts and a spirit of peace because that attitude has always served me better than hanging onto what cannot be changed. There is so much in life we have no control over and if we accept this, we are much better off. We can be more productive, we can be more at peace, we can love others better, we can have rest inside our souls, and this is what inspired this painting.

detail

When I was a child, I used to love letting helium balloons go into the sky. What child didn't, right? It was always a special thing to be given a helium balloon, and whenever I was given one, I remember I used to worry that it would slip out of my grasp too soon. I wanted to position myself in just the right place to release it, making sure it would not get caught in a tree, or the sun would not hinder my view of it once I let it go. I remember the thrill of opening my hand and watching it slowly and quietly float upward, becoming smaller and smaller until it was a tiny speck in the sky and then it would vanish. In my child's mind it seemed to always carry something from me to some unknown place, to some unknown person, and once that person found the balloon we would be forever connected in some mysterious universal way.

detail

That childhood memory gave me the foundation for the idea of this painting which has been dancing around in my mind for a couple of years. I was considering making it one of the paintings in myFinding Faithseries, but committing to a full blown Faith project seemed really daunting to me at this time. Getting multiple people together, finding costumes and props, the video, the photos, it was going to require energy I didn't have. I finally decided to just paint it.

detail

The chairs were an idea that evolved as I worked and they became the symbol of the rest we so need and long for in hard times. I also thought about how during the bad times in our lives, there can often be something good that is tied to them. Sometimes bad times can make us more resilient and wise, or make us appreciate life a little more, or live it a little better than before. Bad times can teach us gratitude for the good and more about WHO we are and WHAT we are about as individual souls. That is why I painted the balloons in the sky white.

detail

In the closing of the first month in 2018, I still find myself looking back and feeling really sad about all that occurred in 2017, and there are still sad things very present. There are several different "balloons in my grasp" that I am working to let go of and some days are better than others. Letting go takes time.

detail

The key for me in getting through hard times is recognizing where I have control and where I don't. And once I sort that out, I am able to let go, and feel more peace. Restorative rest finally comes. And even if that rest is only for a day or for an hour, I am grateful for it.